Memories of Igor Stravinsky

I was lucky enough to have been present at one of the last concerts
which Igor Stravinsky was scheduled to conduct, about a year before
his death in 1971. This was at U.C. Berkeley (California), where I
was, at that time, a sometimes-student (I did eventually graduate,
and still hold a degree in chemistry from that venerable institute).

It was to be Stravinsky conducts Stravinsky, "Rite of Spring" if memory
serves.

It proved that he was too ill to take the podium that night (the man was
in his upper 80's!), but he came out on stage before the performance,
in a wheelchair, a small and frail man, who had written those big, BIG
notes of music. It was a very moving experience.

JdL

--- In metatuning@y..., "John A. deLaubenfels" <jdl@a...> wrote:

/metatuning/topicId_303.html#303

> I was lucky enough to have been present at one of the last concerts
> which Igor Stravinsky was scheduled to conduct, about a year before
> his death in 1971. This was at U.C. Berkeley (California), where I
> was, at that time, a sometimes-student (I did eventually graduate,
> and still hold a degree in chemistry from that venerable institute).
>
> It was to be Stravinsky conducts Stravinsky, "Rite of Spring" if
memory
> serves.
>
> It proved that he was too ill to take the podium that night (the
man was
> in his upper 80's!), but he came out on stage before the
performance,
> in a wheelchair, a small and frail man, who had written those big,
BIG
> notes of music. It was a very moving experience.
>
> JdL

Thanks, John, for this interesting post!

________ ______ __________
Joseph Pehrson